Friday, 25 March 2016

My Thoughts On The Shadowhunters TV Series

So I just watched episode 11 of the Shadowhunters TV show on Netflix, and thought it would be fun to discuss what I'm thinking of the show so far, and see if you guys agree or have other opinions!

For non-spoilery people, as a broad overview I'll say that I am finding the show very entertaining and am enjoying watching it (Matthew Daddario in particular!). However, don't go into it expecting accuracy to the book series because it is COMPLETELY different. This bothered me initially, but as the show's gone on I've decided to just look at it as a complete different entity to the book series, and enjoy it for what it is on it's own. The show definitely had a rough start in regards to acting and script writing, and has since had it's ups and downs but for sure has improved. That's about all I can say that isn't spoiler, so for sure go check the show out, then come back and read the rest of this post and comment what you think!!

SPOILERY SECTION:
Okay, so since there's quite a lot for me to discuss in regards to what has occurred in the show so far, I'm going to split it up into rough categories.

Characters:
I'm pretty divided with my opinion on how the characters are being represented in the show, as I adore some of them, and am really disappointed by others. Initially I wasn't sure about Clary, however as the show's gone on I feel like she's settled into her role much more, and the problem is now more to do with the script writing than the acting.

Jace, on the other hand, I am super disappointed in! I know I shouldn't judge the show too much in relation to the book, as they're so different, but this Jace is unrecognisable!! He is literally nothing like the book Jace that we know and love. Of course, this is pretty much entirely due to the awful script that Dom has been given - it is missing Jace's snarkiness and confidence, and at the moment he is feeling pretty two-dimensional.

Some of the characters I'm loving, however, are Simon, Alec, Izzy and Magnus. Starting with Simon, I'm pretty confident in saying he is my favourite character in the show. He is exactly as I imagine Simon in the books, although his personality did seem to shift super fast after he was changed to a vampire.

Alec I also adore, of course partly because I'm in love with Matthew Daddario, but mostly because of the wonderful acting, and semi-wonderful script. Alec is just so sarcastic and funny, and has been extremely well fleshed out I feel, particularly surrounding his sexuality, and his issues with always being second best to Jace.

Certain aspects of Izzy I'm loving - her acting and most of the script, however I do have a major problem with how sexualised she's been. Yes, in the books Izzy in very confident in her sexuality, but in the show she is transformed into a sexual object, sleeping with Meliorn to get information... not cool.

Valentine I feel is absolutely fantastic. He is super scary, but complex at the some time when we see his almost obsessive love for Jocelyn. I'm really excited to start seeing him appear more in the episodes!

And finally, Magnus! I love Magnus so much!! He's hilarious, and has that air about him that reminds you that he's actually hundreds of years old. Great representation of his character.

Relationships:
As you can probably guess from my discussion about the characters of Clary and Jace, I am not enjoying their romance. They seem to have zero chemistry, and I'm finding it makes no sense in the show why they are in love all of a sudden. Hopefully it will improve as their relationship develops, but at the moment I'm not enjoying it.

The relationship between Jace and Alec I also have massive issues with. They are PARABATAI for goodness sake!! They would not be treating each other like this. Alec legit said in the show that Jace is dead to him....WHAT. NO. That is so not okay. This relationship had better fix itself soon or I'm going to be super upset.

On a more positive note, I love the sibling relationship between Alec and Izzy. They seem extremely close and open with one another, so great!

Similarly, Clary and Simon truly feel like best friends, their chemistry is great. It's been obvious from the beginning that Simon is in love with Clary and she doesn't realise it, so will be interesting to see if anything else is done with this...

And finally, my favourite relationship from the books...Malec!! I'm loving all of the Malec action going on in the show, the writers obviously know that the fans love Malec so they're giving us a load of it!! I feel like it's being done very well, their chemistry is obvious and super adorable, I literally get so excited whenever Alec and Magnus are in a scene together!

Plot:
I don't even know where to start with the plot. So many random things seem to be going on that have serious plot holes and make zero sense, I have no idea how they are going to be resolved. I'll refer to episode 11 as it is the most fresh in my brain - random things like going to get blood from the vampires when Jace gets bitten by a demon... when they have runes for things like that. There are so many little plot holes that prevent the story from having any continuity.

Also, in episode 11, I feel like the whole Jace and Clary brother-sister drama wasn't really played out to it's full potential. It seemed very forced and rushed, and Clary did not seem surprised or upset when she found out. Anyways, we'll see where it goes from here, I'm always hoping for improvement!

Overall, I am for sure enjoying the show entertainment-wise, however am not overly impressed with the quality of writing or acting, and definitely not accuracy to the books!

Let me know in the comments what your opinion is on the Shadowhunters TV show, I'd love to know!!

6 comments:

I stopped watching the show because of how cheesy and forced it seemed to me, but I'm happy to see it got better! I LOVE Matthew Dadaddrio as Alec, and Magnus is great too. However I don't like Kat as Clary and I don't think the role is that strong either, I just feel as if there are a lot of pointless plot holes that just got boring for me. Maybe I'll watch the rest of it when the season's done.

Oh man, it definitely sounds like the series is all over the place. It's a shame about Jace's character, I don't know how they could screw that up yet again but at least Simon is a bit better. I haven't watched this series but I don't know if I will at this point. Great review!

Thank you!! Yeah, it's such a shame as Jace is a wonderful character. If you really love TMI then I'd say give it a go but don't have high expectations, especially for it to stick close to the books! xx

I totally agree - I've been looking at the show and the books as completely separate, and when I do that, I actually enjoy the show a lot more! I do love Matthew Daddario as well - he acts so well! I also really love Izzy and Simon - but Jace and Clary are pretty weak, imo. Some of the new non-book stuff they've added really intrigues me, especially with the addition of Olivia Branwell!I'm really glad we're getting a second season, because I really hope that the second season improves upon the first one :) Geraldine @ Corralling Books

It is pretty interesting, hey! I like the whole idea of Alec being engaged, will make for a very interesting second season. And I agree, hopefully they will have really settled into their characters by second season, and the writers will see how fans are reacting to some of the script. Glad you enjoy it too!! xx